In many professions, individuals, such as concrete finishers, are required to use specialized clothing, equipment, and gear in engaging in the performance of their duties and to transport such items from one location to another. Conventional methods for storing and transporting tools, such as tool boxes and bucket bags, have a number of disadvantages. First, the individual using the tools may be required to climb ladders or perform other physical acts that require the individual to have both hands free at the time. Further, since conventional tool boxes are designed to use only one hand, transporting heavy tools and other equipment becomes increasingly difficult over any distance using a single-handed tool box. In addition, the tool box is not designed to be oriented in any direction since the tools are usually arrayed in trays. Thus, if the tool box becomes upended or turned upside down, the tools can be scattered throughout the tool box.
During construction, workers often need to climb ladders to get to work sites. The Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) requires that when climbing ladders, the worker maintain three points of contact with the ladder (see 29 CFR 1926.1053(b)(21), “Each employee shall use at least one hand to grasp the ladder when progressing up and/or down the ladder”). A hand-carried tool bag would prevent the worker from maintaining the three points of contact with the ladder, resulting in an unsafe condition and an OSHA violation. In addition, when using a ladder to pass between levels, the worker must often pass through a floor opening (also called a floor hole or a scuttle hole) or a manhole. Oftentimes, the tools carried are longer than the opening is wide, requiring the worker to awkwardly and unsafely carry the tool box. A vertically-oriented bag for carrying concrete finishing tools avoids this problem.
What is needed is an apparatus that allows the user to safely transport tools, clothing, and other equipment between work locations, thus allowing the user to maintain his safety as well as prevent loss of the tools, clothing, and other equipment, which can result in injury to the user, injury to others, and/or damage to other objects.
The term “concrete finishing tools” and “cement finishing tools,” as used herein, are used interchangeably and shall generally refer to bull floats, sliders, trowels, knee pads, boots, gloves, goggles, clothing, darbies, groovers, hard floats, ear muffs, ear plugs, levels, cove tools, brushes, files, saws, hammers, measuring tape, nail bars, chalk boxes, carpenter pencils, patch buckets, nose tools, bronze grovers, nail bags, squares, markers, knives, edgers, hand stones, rain gear, and any other equipment that a concrete finisher might use in the normal course in the performance of their work.
The term “D-ring,” as used herein refers to any type of metal, plastic, leather, string, cable, cord, webbing, or other ring or loop capable of being used to hold objects, including combinations thereof. D-rings are a permanent part of the strap apparatus and may also include loops secured with fasteners or other configured or molded structures of any material capable of being formed into a closed loop through which a strap, another loop, a hook, or rope may be drawn.